Zeppelin

ARTICLES ABOUT ZEPPELIN BY DATE - PAGE 4

Does the world really need another list of the best albums of the pop music era? Of course, say the National Association of Recording Merchandisers and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The two organizations on Tuesday released "The Definitive 200," a roster of key albums from the past half century as voted on by members of the retail advocacy organization. Those on the list will be highlighted by stores and online music merchants, as with the American Film Institute's list of history's greatest films.

Guitar World magazine readers have spoken, choosing the 100 greatest guitar albums of all time. The winner? Surprise: It's "Led Zeppelin IV." The 1971 album, also known as "Zoso," leads the pack, followed by Guns N' Roses' "Appetite for Destruction," The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Are You Experienced," Metallica's "Master of Puppets," and rounding out the Top 5, Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon." No. 100 is The Black Crowes' "The Southern Harmony and Musical Companion." Rocker Dave Navarro tells the magazine, in its October issue, that his top 5 albums are: "The Wall," by Pink Floyd; "Van Halen," by Van Halen; "Physical Graffiti," by Led Zeppelin; "Live at Leeds," by The Who, and "Electric Ladyland," by The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

Robert Plant emerged onstage under cover of darkness, his shadowy figure camouflaged by plumes of incense. With half of his Strange Sensation quintet slapping hand drums, the former Led Zeppelin frontman began a 100-minute set with an earthy "No Quarter" that could have passed for a tribal chant emanating from the Saharan outback. The spiritual overhaul of the rippling jazz-rock fusion song marks the latest in an ongoing series of transitions for Plant, who, after spending the '80s crafting diversified music and the bulk of the '90s reliving past glories, recently delved back into the mystical by melding exotic world sounds with their Western descendants.

I can't listen to Led Zeppelin without getting thirsty for a cold one. Which came first, Zeppelin's "Fool in the Rain" or the old Budweiser jingle "When you say Budweiser, you've said it all?" Was there any claim of copyright infringement by one against the other? --Scott A. Wineberg, Buffalo Grove "When You Say Budweiser, You've Said It All," was an ad campaign created in 1970 by ad-industry songwriter Steve Karmen. Karmen was later dubbed "King of the Jingle" by People magazine for his famous tunes that also included "Hershey, the Great American Chocolate Bar."

Since the Stone Roses imploded in the early '90s, Ian Brown has increasingly filled the role of the wandering mystic. "Solarized," continues this trend -- the earthy album is built on warm synths, gently humming guitars and Brown's soothingly hypnotic voice. But the record is deceptively mellow. A closer listen reveals the singer's most politically charged release to date: "Upside Down" levels that "7 percent own 84 percent of everything on Earth" and "One Way Ticket To Paradise" attacks "warmongers" over an East-meets-West fusion of East Asian rhythms and Zeppelin riffage.

Deep in the birch and pine forests about 20 miles south of Berlin, there sat a huge abandoned Soviet air base. The question was what to do with it. One idea was to make it into a zeppelin "cargo-lifter" terminal. From there, the airships would haul heavy cargo to faraway places. The government, eager to create jobs in the former East Germany, poured 44 million euros into the project, and a German entrepreneur erected the world's largest zeppelin hangar on the site. But the zeppelins never flew, and two years ago the project went bust, leaving debts of 120 million euros.

Dallas-based luxury retailer Neiman Marcus unveiled its 2004 Christmas catalog on Tuesday, and among the pricey holiday gift ideas are jeweled Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head figurines at $8,000 apiece, a $10 million Zeppelin and a $1.7 million winged submarine. The Neiman Marcus book first appeared in 1926. ---------- Compiled from news services and edited by Patrick Olsen (polsen@tribune.com) and Victoria Rodriguez (vrodriguez@tribune.com)

It's only fitting that the first scene in the revelatory new "Led Zeppelin DVD" (Atlantic) is from a concert 33 years ago at the Royal Albert Hall, a hallowed musical sanctuary that overlooks Hyde Park in this city's South Kensington borough. It has played host to more than 150,000 performances since it opened in 1871, but it's a safe bet that few, if any, were louder or brasher than the one given by the British quartet on Jan. 9, 1970. Zeppelin was still in its relative youth and its innocence was palpable on the screen.